Taki's
by three-golden-mockingjays
Summary: "When you're dating Magnus," Isabelle said thoughtfully, "You'll be more fun." Alec spluttered, turning red, "When I'm… Magnus? Dating? Why would you-" Over the years, Isabelle and Alec Lightwood spend a lot of time in their favourite diner discussing, or more accurately, arguing over, potential dates, Jace Lightwood's cynicism and the magnificent Magnus Bane.
1. Chapter 1

"Isabelle," Alec said warningly, "Stop it."

"I'm not trying to attract him," Isabelle protested, even though her body language seemed to contradict her statement.

"You most certainly are," Alec refused to back down, and as it often was with the stubborn Lightwood siblings, the argument went on unresolved.

The boy eventually went away, and Alec had his sister's attention once more. He decided to make the most of it.

"Hey Izzy?"

"Yes, brother mine?" Isabelle was sarcastically courteous, drinking her milkshake with a scowl on her face, upset that her brother had scared away a potential date.

"Is it bad that I don't see why everyone finds you so attractive?"

Isabelle took a long sip of her milkshake, savouring it's chocolaty sweetness, before replying, "Of course not Alec. You're my brother. That would just be alarming."

"Good," Alec visibly relaxed, leaning back into the booth seat, "That's good."

His sister was giving him suspicious looks, making the dark-haired boy uncomfortable, "I was just checking I was normal Izzy."

"Well, you're certainly not normal, Alec Lightwood," Isabelle smirked, "I've never met anyone remotely like you. But yes, in this particular instance, you seem quite normal."

"Good," Alex repeated, and there was silence.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"What about her, Alec?" Isabelle suggested pertly, "I think she's looking at you!"<p>

Alec looked over his shoulder, his dark fringe partially obstructing his bright blue eyes, "I need a haircut," he grumbled.

"Nah, I like it like this," Isabelle flagged down a waitress, "But what about the girl, Alec?"

Alec shrugged, "She's not much to look at."

"Don't be shallow," his sister chided him, "She might have a lovely soul."

"Unless she's a demon, in which case she has no soul," Alec pointed out bluntly.

"She's not a demon Alec," sighed Isabelle, "God, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," protested Alec vehemently, "I just uh… don't want to go talk to anyone."

"Naw," Isabelle smiled smugly, "Is Alec scared of a girl?"

"I am most certainly no-"

Isabelle cut him off in an airy tone, "Alec, you should have more confidence. You're very attractive," she assured him, "So go talk to someone."

Alec was silent, thinking hard, a crease between his eyebrows.

"Oh, what now Alec?" Isabelle asked impatiently, "I want to see you talk to her!"

"I thought you said," Alec began slowly, "That siblings weren't meant to be able to see the attractiveness in each other."

Isabelle paused, then began to laugh, "Oh Alec, don't look so troubled! I'm not attracted to you! I just see features in you that I know girls like! And plus, those girls are totally staring at you…"

"Izzy," Alec's serious tone put an end to his sister's babbling, "I get it. But if you see the attractive in me, why don't I see it in you?"

"Maybe I'm ugly," Isabelle shrugged, then took notice of her brother's exasperated eye-rolling, "Okay fine. I am thrilled that you don't see the attractive in me Alec, and I think that's completely normal and very healthy. I know what girls look for Alec, but that doesn't mean I don't think you look about as appealing as a potato."

"Thanks Izzy," smiled Alec, "I think you're about as appealing as a potato too."

"Well I'm glad we've sorted that out," Isabelle said as the milkshakes arrived, "I wish you'd go talk to her Alec."

"Keep dreaming sis," Alec snorted into his milkshake, "She's not my type."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth shut as she wondered to herself, _is anyone?_

* * *

><p><strong>This is just a random little fic I've been working on for a while now. If you can't tell, the Lightwood siblings are hands down my favourite TMI characters, and apart from mentions of Magnus Bane and a moment of Jace, they're the only two characters I'll really be focusing on. This is my first TMI fic, so feedback would really be appreciated.<strong>

**Thanks for the read!**

**xx - L.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Alec!" Isabelle fumed, "I can't believe you did that!"

"What?" Alec asked angrily, "I don't see why it's your problem!"

"Alec, you can't just treat girls that way," Isabelle was adamant, "That was really shitty of you."

"I had a bad time!" Alec cried out, exasperated, "I didn't want to hang around with her anymore. I just wanted to go home!"

"You can't just waltz off home and leave your date!" Isabelle was close to shrieking, "Are you a nutcase? And I heard you were rude to her too."

"I told you Izzy, I didn't like her!" Alec protested, the dangerous glint in his blue eyes fuelled with frustration, "And I wasn't rude exactly… I just spoke minimally."

"That's rude Alec," Isabelle said flatly.

"Okay then, I was rude," Alec folded his arms defensively.

"If you don't like the girl Alec, you sit it out and don't have a second date," Isabelle tried to be calm as she explained what she thought was something everyone knew, "I don't see why you had to be so rude to her."

"I'm always rude to people I don't like, Izzy," Alec explained tersely, "You know that. Why should it be any different with a girl you made me take out?"

"I don't get was wrong with her anyway!" Isabelle changed tact, beginning to flip through the pages of the menu as her brother tapped the bench anxiously.

"She was boring. She was ugly. She said stupid things. Fake tan," Alec listed rapidly, "She was too chatty. Too perky. Wore too much make up… Do you want me to go on?"

"Honestly Alec," Isabelle sighed, her chewing gum momentarily visible in her mouth.

"Look Izzy, I know you're so concerned with how I treated your precious Annie, but can we stop for a second and just think about what a horrible, uncomfortable time I had and agree that you should never set me up with a girl again?"

Isabelle spat, "Okay, but I don't know how you're going to find a girlfriend without me, you don't know any girls and your social skills are _appalling_…"

"I don't want a girlfriend, Izzy!" Alec burst out, and flushed, "I'm going home," he muttered, and stormed from the diner.

Isabelle was shell-shocked for the next few minutes. Had her brother really meant that? Had she interpreted him wrong? Did this mean what she thought it meant? If it did, her parents would be furious, she realised with a painful jolt.

Someone entered the diner, and Isabelle's heart relaxed at the sight of him. "Hey!" she called, lifting a hand in a wave.

Jace Wayland slid into the seat opposite Isabelle, golden hair lit up by the dim lights, "Have you seen Alec? I thought he'd be with you."

Isabelle didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked with what seemed to be genuine concern, "You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine," Isabelle said dismissively, "Alec's gone home. He just had a bit of a tantrum with me, apparently I set him up on a date with a girl who wore too much makeup or something…"

Jace snickered softly, "Well, I'll go make fun of her with him," he executed a small wave as he promptly stood up again and left the diner, "A pleasure as always, Isabelle."

Once the door of the diner had shut, Isabelle slid forward so that her chin was cradled in her hands, elbows on the table. She was sure there was a look of horror on her face, and wondered whether the impossible was possible. What would her parents say…

"Oh dear."

* * *

><p>Alec avoided his sister after that, but Isabelle was determined, and a determined Isabelle was an invincible force, and in this case, tragically unavoidable. Unavoidable to the point that even leaving the Institute and wandering the streets of New York still didn't keep Alec safe.<p>

"Brother!" Isabelle's tone was sickly sweet, and she grabbed her brother's arm in a vice-like grip when they inexplicably met on the street.

"I was on my way to go help Jace with…" Alec's voice trailed away, his protestations half-hearted. He knew there was no escape.

Isabelle steered Alec into Taki's diner, and sat him down. Frowning, she considered her brother for a moment. She decided she would be nice and gentle about it, coax the truth out of him, "Okay, so last night…" Isabelle's voice stuck quickly, and she realised she had no way to do this. After all, it wasn't in her nature to be gentle. "Alright Alec, last night, when you said you didn't want a girlfriend, did you mean you didn't want a girlfriend or you didn't want a _girl_friend?"

Alec groaned inwardly, but kept his posture rigid and threatening, "Isabelle," he said warningly through gritted teeth.

"Alec," Isabelle mirrored his tone, then sighed, "Alec, you know that those intimidation techniques work on everyone… but me. Now out with it."

Alec said nothing.

"I'm sorry," Isabelle hugged her brother, who stiffened in her arms.

"I don't want to talk to you Izzy," Alec's voice took of a new tone which Isabelle couldn't quite pinpoint. She'd certainly never heard it before.

"Alec, I love you, okay?" Isabelle murmured into her brother's shoulder, "Nothing's going to change that. I know you're having a hard time right now and well… I wish you'd talk to me about it."

"Why should I?" Alec muttered.

"Because if anyone's going to accept and love you unconditionally, it's me Alec, and you should take advantage of that, because you need someone to love you, even if you pretend you don't," Isabelle's voice were simple, and hit home.

Alec's muscles didn't relax, and his voice remained tense, "If I tell the truth, the amount of people who love me is going to go down a lot."

"Anyone who doesn't want to be around you is crazy," Isabelle tried to act cheerful, "And I'm sure people won't care _that _much."

"Gay," Alec spat out the word like a poison, "Why me?"

"Because you're strong enough to handle it," his sister assured him, "You'll be okay, Alec."

"Thanks sis."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, longer chapter here... So we've made some progress in Alec's story so far. I wasn't sure how Alec did come out to his sister, (if at all,) so I wasn't sure how to go about writing this chapter. Do you guys like the way I've written it? I'm trying to be authentic to the characters, and if you think I'm not, feel free to let me know. Any form of feedback is awesome and always appreciated.<strong>

**Teaser for next chapter: Isabelle discusses Magnus Bane with her romantically clueless brother.**

**xx - L.**


	3. Chapter 3

"You'd think that one of the perks of being gay would mean that you could talk to girls easily, but you can't," Isabelle snorted, swirling her chocolate milkshake so as to evenly distribute the syrup.

"Isabelle," Alec bit into a chip, "I think we've already established that I'm not good at talking to anyone."

"It's kind of endearing," Isabelle shot him a smile, "But kind of annoying," she added as an afterthought.

"My abilities as a Shadowhunter are not determined by my ability to socialise," Alec pointed out, "We don't all have to be as chatty as you. Look at Jace. His cynicism is so extreme it actually physically pushes people away."

"You've got I point there, I guess," Isabelle shrugged, "Although at the same time, he's oddly charming. Where is he, anyway?" Isabelle asked suddenly, "I just realised I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"Picked up some poor girl last night," Alec grumbled, and checked his watch, "It's been over twelve hours. Safe to say he's in the process of getting rid of her now."

"And I thought you were bad to girls," Isabelle muttered, "He's become quite the womaniser, hasn't he?"

Alec didn't say anything.

"Sorry," Isabelle mumbled, then lifted her head to look her brother in the eyes, "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts," Alec tried to act as though it was nothing, but failed. His voice was too bitter, too close to cracking over the harsh words he spoke.

"Sorry," said Isabelle again.

"It's okay, I guess," Alec shrugged, even though he clearly didn't think so.

"You won't love him forever, Alec," Isabelle pointed out, "One day you'll find someone."

"Do you reckon?" Alec asked miserably, "It feels hopeless. I'm hopeless. He's hopeless. Everything is hopeless."

"Alec," groaned Isabelle, "Don't say that. Things will get better."

"Maybe," Alec was stubborn in his misery.

"Whatever," Isabelle finished her milkshake with a final slurp, "If you're so determined to be miserable-"

"Izzy!" protested Alec, "It's not that I'm _determined, _so much as I'm _doomed _to be miserable. It's really not something I can control."

"It really is," Isabelle pushed her milkshake glass away, "Listen to you, you melodramatic thing. 'I'm doomed to be miserable.' Grow up Alec!"

"Doomed was the first word I came up with," grumbled Alec, "And I'm not being melodramatic-"

"Yes you are Alec," Isabelle said decisively, "And if you're going to keep on carrying on like this, you can walk home on your own," she stood up and stepped over her brother's legs, determined to get out of the booth and go home.

"Isabelle!" Alec yelped desperately, grabbing his sister's arm to prevent her getting away, attracting several stares from people around the small diner.

"Alec," pouted Isabelle, "People are looking. They probably think we're breaking up or something," she made a face, "I really don't want people to think I'm dating you."

"Isabelle," Alec's tone was desperate, "I'm having a really crap time of things right now. I'm in love with my best friend and I'm into the wrong gender and I can't bloody tell anyone and I had to listen to him with that girl in the next room last night if you leave me now I swear to God I'll get drunk and probably wake up in-"

"Okay Alec," Isabelle put an end to Alec's slightly hysterical rambling as she embraced him in a hug, "I'm sorry you've had to put up with all Jace's crap."

Alec gave his sister a squeeze, "Thank you," he said softly.

People were still staring when the hug ended, and Alec cleared his throat awkwardly, "My sister, everybody."

And with a laugh from Isabelle's side breaking the silence of the diner, the siblings exited in all their mismatched glory.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so shorter chapter this time, but I really liked it. Alec's being a drama queen, Isabelle's generally awesome... what's not to like? Sorry, this isn't exactly the chapter I promised you - that's next chapter. Oops. I totally forgot that I wanted to sneak this scene into the story, because it came to me randomly one day and I decided it needed to be shared.<strong>

**Teaser for next chapter: Isabelle decides that the High Warlock of Brooklyn is a potential partner for her brother. Alec is horrified. For reals this time.**

**xx - L.**


	4. Chapter 4

"So, brother mine!" Isabelle said happily, "How was your day?"

"What's got you in such fine spirits?" Alec asked tiredly, raking his hand through his dark hair.

"Magnuuusss Baaaane," Isabelle sang happily, swaying back and forth with her arm around her brother, "Sway with me."

"No," Alec said shortly, extricating himself from his sister's grip, "I don't sway."

"When you're dating Magnus," Isabelle said thoughtfully, "You'll be more fun."

Alec spluttered, turning red, "When I'm… Magnus? Dating? Why would you-"

"Be calm brother," Isabelle laid a hand on her brother's arm, "If you turn into a spluttering wreck every time anyone mentions Magnus, let alone him talking to you-"

"I don't turn into a spluttering wreck," protested Alec smoothly, composing himself.

His sister giggled, "You do! You would have stood there and stammered for _hours _at the end of that party if I hadn't been there to rescue you."

Alec gasped in exasperation, "Who just asks for a person's number like that? Who just, like, springs it on them? You can't just wink at a person who you just met and say 'call me.' What was I meant to do?"

"Oh Alec," Isabelle tried to contain her laughter, but was shaking with silent giggles, "You're so inexperienced! That's exactly what people do, especially people like Magnus Bane! You should have said you would!"

"But I'm not going to," a small crease of confusion appeared between Alec's eyebrows.

"Why not?" pouted Isabelle.

"Why should I?" Alec turned the question around, "I mean, wasn't he just having a bit of fun? Scaring the gay Nephilim? Speaking of which, how did he know-"

"No, no, no, no and no, Alec," Isabelle cut her brother off, "No, no, no. You have misinterpreted the situation."

Alec raised his eyebrows, "I'm listening."

"Magnus," Isabelle said slowly, moving her face closer to Alec's, "Likes you!"

Alec rolled his eyes, "I admit, I was expecting something a little more impressive than that-"

"He _likes you _likes you!" Isabelle seemed very excited by what was a confusing prospect for Alec, "He really likes you, and I think you should call him!"

"Call him?" Alec's facial expression was hard to read, but the expression was somewhere between confusion and horror.

"Aw look at you," Isabelle ruffled her brother's hair, who tried and failed to pull away, instead knocking over the salt, pepper and the menus on their table, "You have no idea what you're doing."

"I think we established this years ago Izzy," sighed Alec, resting his chin in his hands, "I am both inexperienced and socially awkward. Yay for me."

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Isabelle said very seriously, "I will see you get together with Magnus Bane one day, whether you like it or not."

* * *

><p>"Alexander Lightwood," Isabelle's tone was unusually grave, "Did you or did you not recently threaten to kill Clary Fray?"<p>

Alec groaned into his hands, which he had spread over his face. Isabelle took this as a yes.

"Alec, what did she do?"

"She told me that I was in love with Jace and that was why I hated her and want her to leave," Alec sat up straight, slamming his hands onto the grimy diner table.

"Well," said Isabelle slowly, "It is true."

"Izzy!" exclaimed Alec, "You're meant to take my side."

"Look Alec," Isabelle sighed, "You're kind of in the wrong here, but I do prefer you to Clary, don't worry. Now… I must say I saw this thing coming."

"You foresaw me threatening to kill Clary Fray?" Alec raised his eyebrows.

"Well, a little, but what I meant was more along the lines of..." Isabelle began uncomfortably, then decided to change tactic, "Remember the night you told her she looked like someone whose number should be written on a bathroom wall?"

"Vividly," Alec muttered.

"Well, while I was getting her ready, she asked me if you were gay."

"She what?" Alec placed his face back in his hands, "Oh God."

"I told her yes, because she seemed pretty convinced and I didn't want her to go after you about it," Isabelle went on, "I just said not to tell anyone about it because it was frowned upon."

"Great," Alec moaned, "Then she thought she'd use it against me."

"She was scared Alec," Isabelle said reasonably, "She had to say something."

"No," Alec corrected his sister, "She was angry at that point. She told me I was a coward because I was too scared to admit I was in love with Jace. She was scared when I pushed her against the wall and swore that I'd kill her."

"Goddamnit it Alec," Isabelle sighed, "Actually," Isabelle reconsidered, sitting up taller, "I would have done the exact same thing. No. I would have _actually _killed her."

Alec smiled reluctantly, "You're a good sister, Isabelle."

"I know I am," Isabelle smiled, "So listen to this advice. Forget Jace, if you can. I know it will hurt. But seriously, you have the number of a very attractive warlock who believe it or not, is actually into guys."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I promised you Magnus-themed discussions and you got Magnus-themed discussions + Alec nearly killing Clary, so consider it a bonus. The scenes our favourite siblings are referring to (Magnus' party, Alec and Clary's uh... incident,) are probably my two favourite scenes in the CoB, so I really enjoyed writing this chapter.<strong>

**Okay, here's a note I'm really ashamed to be adding. Guys, all the follows and favourites for this story have been amazing, but ever since the first chapter I haven't been getting much in the way of reviews. I know it's pretty sad of me to beg so I'm only going to say this once, but here it is: reviews make me really happy and motivate me to get a chapter up faster. Giving me feedback will also make the story closer to whatever it is you want to hear. So if you have a minute, please consider a review.**

**Phew. Glad that's over. Teaser for next chapter? Alec tries to explain his midnight 'walk' (*cough* meeting Magnus *cough*) to a very inquisitive Isabelle.**

**xx - L.**


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